Finland is building its own space command. It will take control of three radar satellites

The decision to establish the Space Operations Centre was made by Finland’s Minister of Defence, Antti Häkkänen. The facility will begin operating on 1 January 2027 and will be located in Tikkakoski, near Jyväskylä in central Finland. It will operate alongside the Air Force Command, within structures responsible for a significant part of the military command and reconnaissance system. 

Initially, the centre is expected to employ around 20 military and civilian specialists transferred from other units of the Finnish Defence Forces. This is a relatively small team, but its importance will be greater than the number of employees alone might suggest. The centre is intended to integrate information about the situation in space, plan activities involving military satellite systems and coordinate cooperation with allies. 

Finnish authorities expect the facility’s staff to gradually increase as national space capabilities develop. This is therefore not a one-off launch of a small administrative unit, but the establishment of a permanent component of the defence system.

Three ICEYE satellites are set to give Finland its own eyes in orbit

The most important tangible element of Finland’s programme is a group of three satellites equipped with synthetic aperture radar, known as SAR. They were ordered in September 2025 as part of cooperation with ICEYE. The satellites were placed in orbit in 2025 and 2026. 

Until 1 April 2027, ICEYE will operate them under an agreement already in place. Responsibility for their operation will then pass to the Finnish Defence Forces. This represents a significant change: Finland will no longer simply receive data supplied by an external operator, but will gain the ability to manage its own satellite system independently. 

Radar observation satellites are particularly important for military reconnaissance. Unlike conventional optical instruments, they do not need sunlight or cloudless skies to observe the Earth’s surface. They transmit radar signals and analyse the reflections from the objects being observed. 

This allows them to provide images at night, through cloud cover and in difficult weather conditions. For Finland, where conditions for optical observation are limited during a significant part of the year, this is a particularly important advantage. 

SAR radar can track troop movements and changes on the ground

SAR technology is used to monitor infrastructure, changes in terrain and activity at airports, ports and military facilities. Radar images can help detect changes in equipment deployments, identify new structures and track activity in locations that an adversary is trying to conceal from observation. 

This does not mean that a single satellite can provide uninterrupted observation of every location on Earth. Satellites travel along orbital paths, and how frequently a given area can be observed depends, among other things, on orbital parameters, manoeuvring capabilities and the task schedule. However, having its own constellation gives a country greater control over which areas are observed and when data is collected. 

Information from satellites can support the planning of land, naval and air operations. It can also be used to assess the effects of strikes, monitor adversary activity and verify information obtained from other reconnaissance sources. 

For the Finnish military, combining satellite data with information from ground-based, airborne and maritime systems will also be important. Modern armed forces increasingly rely on an integrated operational picture rather than data from a single type of sensor.

The centre will also monitor activity in orbit

The new facility will not be responsible solely for operating observation satellites. Finland also wants to develop military space situational awareness, meaning the ability to establish what is happening in orbit and identify threats that could affect the operation of its own systems. 

This is an increasingly important part of national security. Satellites provide communications, navigation, terrain observation and the transmission of data essential for military operations. Disrupting or destroying them could hamper not only the armed forces, but also civilian infrastructure, transport and energy systems. 

The threat does not necessarily have to involve a direct attack on a satellite. Other possibilities include interference with navigation signals, attempts to take control of systems, cyberattacks on ground infrastructure and activities by other space objects that approach satellites and interfere with their operation. 

This is precisely why Finland wants to establish a facility where information about activity in orbit will be collected and analysed from a military perspective. The centre will cooperate with a civilian space monitoring facility operating at the Finnish Meteorological Institute. The two centres will function independently but are expected to exchange information. 

Finland is bringing space into its cooperation with NATO

The new facility will also be responsible for coordinating cooperation with allied and partner countries. This matters because outer space is not an area in which a single country can independently monitor all relevant phenomena and threats. 

Satellites travel in orbit around the entire Earth, and monitoring them requires data exchange and cooperation between operators. NATO countries are developing their own space systems, but they also use information from partners and commercial entities. Joint analysis can help identify dangerous activities more quickly and assess their significance for alliance security. 

Finland, which joined NATO in 2023, is strengthening another area of military cooperation in this way. The new centre will be a national component of its space defence system while also facilitating cooperation with allies. 

In practice, this means that Finnish satellite capabilities could be important not only for observing its own territory. Data collected by radar satellites could also prove useful within the wider reconnaissance and situational assessment system on NATO’s northern flank. 

The war in Ukraine has shown how important space is

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has demonstrated how heavily modern warfare depends on space technologies. Satellite data helps monitor troop concentrations, equipment movements, the condition of infrastructure and the effects of attacks. Satellite communications make it possible to maintain contact even where traditional networks have been damaged or are unavailable. 

Commercial space companies play an important role alongside systems owned by states. Their data and services can be used by the military, public administration and security services. 

For Finland, developing its own capabilities is particularly important because of its geographical location and direct border with Russia. The country must take into account the possibility of a crisis in the Baltic Sea and Arctic regions, as well as the need to monitor military activity across the vast areas of northern Europe. 

Its own radar satellites and operations centre are intended to reduce dependence on information obtained exclusively from other countries or commercial providers. This does not mean abandoning international cooperation. On the contrary, Finland wants to combine its own resources with allied and civilian data. 

This is the beginning of Finland's space defence system

Establishing the centre in Tikkakoski is one of the first concrete steps in implementing Finland’s defence strategy for outer space. Work on the strategy document is nearing completion, and the new facility is intended to provide the organisational structure needed to develop further capabilities. 

It is worth distinguishing between two elements of the Finnish system. The civilian space monitoring centre is intended to support national security and infrastructure protection, while the new military centre will focus on the needs of the armed forces, command of their space capabilities and operations using their own systems. 

Finland has not announced the construction of space weapons or a system designed to destroy adversary satellites. The project presented focuses primarily on observation, reconnaissance, management of its own resources and cooperation with allies. These are nevertheless areas that can directly affect the effectiveness of military operations on land, at sea and in the air. 

The timetable has already been set. The centre is due to begin operations on 1 January 2027, while the three ICEYE radar satellites will pass under the operational control of the Finnish Defence Forces on 1 April 2027. In this way, Finland will move from using the services of an external operator to independently managing its own military satellite observation system.